You are here

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the creation of a Commission of Inquiry on crimes against humanity in North Korea.

Royce said: “Monitoring and communicating to the world North Korea’s horrendous human rights abuses is long overdue. Kim Jung Un, who’s proven to be no different than his father, brutally abuses North Koreans. We should do everything we can to shine a light into this dark prison. This latest action sends a clear message to the regime – your crimes against humanity will not go unnoticed by the world.”

The situation in North Korea continues to be one of the worst human rights and humanitarian disasters in the world. At any given time, approximately 200,000 people are subjected to forced labor, torture, extrajudicial killing, and starvation in North Korea’s gulags. It is estimated that more than 400,000 people have died in this system in the last 30 years.

Royce, co-chairman of the International Parliamentarians Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights, has long worked to highlight the deplorable human rights conditions in North Korean. In December, Royce wrote Secretary Clinton and urged the State Department to support the creation of a Commission of Inquiry on crimes against humanity in North Korea.

Royce has led the effort to incorporate human rights into U.S. policy toward North Korea. He authored legislation to increase radio broadcasting into North Korea to counter the totalitarian regime’s propaganda.